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Childhood behavior problems are associated with reduced labor market participation and lower earnings in adulthood, but little is known about the pathways and mechanisms that explain these associations. Drawing on a 33‐year prospective birth cohort of White males from low‐income backgrounds (n = 1040), we conducted a path analysis linking participants' teacher‐rated behavior problems at age 6 years—that is, inattention, hyperactivity, aggression‐opposition, and low prosociality—to employment earnings at age 35–39 years obtained from tax records. We examined three psychosocial mediators at age 11–12 years (academic, behavioral, social) and two mediators at age 25 years (non‐high school graduation, criminal convictions). Our findings support the notion that multiple psychosocial pathways—especially low education attainment—link kindergarten behavior problems to lower employment earnings decades later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Inconsistent reports raise the question of the extent to which poor adult outcomes are associated with adolescent polysubstance use (PSU: alcohol, marijuana, other illicit drugs) above and beyond earlier risk factors. Methods: Early adulthood substance-related and psychosocial outcomes were examined in association with age 13 to 17 developmental patterns of PSU in boys from urban, low SES neighborhoods (N = 926). Three classes obtained by latent growth modeling described low/non-users (N = 565, 61.0%), lower risk PSU (later onset, occasional use, 2 ≤ substances; N = 223, 24.1%), and higher risk PSU (earlier onset, frequent use, 3 ≥ substances; N = 138, 14.9%). Preadolescent individual, familial and social predictors of adolescent PSU patterns were used as covariates. Results: Adolescent PSU contributed to both age-24 substance-related outcomes (frequency of alcohol, drug use, and getting drunk, risky behaviors under influence, and use-related problems) and psychosocial outcomes (no high school diploma, professional or financial strain, ASP symptoms, criminal record) over and above preadolescent risk factors. Controlling for preadolescent risk factors, adolescent PSU made a more important contribution to adult substance use outcomes (increasing the risk by about 110%) than to psychosocial outcomes (16.8% risk increase). PSU classes showed poorer adjustment for all age-24 substance use, and for various psychosocial outcomes than low/non-users. Higher risk polysubstance users also reported poorer outcomes than their lower risk peers for most substance use outcomes, and for professional or financial strain and criminal record. Conclusion: Findings highlight the contribution of adolescent PSU in a dose–response fashion, over and above preadolescent risk factors, on both homotypic and heterotypic outcomes in early adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated adolescents' single and co-occurring developmental patterns of gambling participation and substance use and their association with gambling and substance use-related issues at age 17, controlling for confounders. Multiple assessments from age 12 to 17 were conducted in a population-based cohort (N=1594, 51.2% boys). Latent growth modeling was used to analyze developmental patterns and Generalized linear models to examine their association with age-17 gambling and substance use-related problems, types and variety of activities, and substance abuse. Results revealed six developmental patterns, including Low- or Non-substance Users or Gamblers (24.2% sample), two trajectory-classes of Later-Onset Increasing (to a moderate level) substance users, either with or without gambling participation (7.8% and 45.5%, respectively), two trajectory-classes of Early-Onset Increasing (to a higher level) substance users, either with or without gambling participation (6.2% and 12.7%, respectively), and a smaller trajectory-class of Slow-Increasing Substance Users and Early-Onset Gamblers, declining to non-gambling after age 13 (3.6%). Gambling participation and substance use did not appear to influence each other with regard to their onset and course throughout adolescence, and to age-17 types and variety of gambling activities or substances used, problems related to gambling participation or substance use, or substance abuse. These findings are consistent with the addictive syndrome model and with both common and individualized approaches to prevention and treatment for adolescent gamblers or substance users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined developmental patterns of co-occurrent alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs use during adolescence and the associated preadolescent risk factors in a longitudinal sample of 926 boys from low-socioeconomic, urban neighborhoods. Latent growth mixture modeling revealed six developmental patterns: non-/low-alcohol and non-illicit drug users (61% sample) and five polysubstance user-groups varying in severity based on onset, frequency and type of substances used. In comparisons with non-/low-users, several preadolescent risk factors were associated with increasing severity of polysubstance use. Higher sensation-seeking and lower anxiety were associated with all user-groups. Low self-esteem and family-related risk factors differentiated all user-groups from later-onset users. Higher impulsivity and school problems characterized early-onset and frequent polysubstance users. Impulsive sensation-seekers with lower anxiety and self-esteem cumulated a larger number and higher severity of risk factors and were at risk of early-onset frequent polysubstance use, emphasising the importance of indicated prevention for these high-risk boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated prenatal and early postnatal risk factors associated with developmental patterns of disruptive behaviors (DBs; e.g., hyperactivity-impulsivity, noncompliance, physical aggression) from ages 1.5 to 5 years in a population birth cohort {N = 2,057; 50.7% boys). Six high-trajectory classes obtained by latent growth modeling were used as longitudinal indicators of single-DB and co-occurrent DBs. Children following low or moderate trajectories for all DBs served as the reference class. Results showed low commonality of risk factors among single-DB trajectory classes, suggesting that "pure" forms of DBs have specific etiologies. In contrast, the trajectory classes with a high DB in common shared 20.0% to 46.7% of their risk factors. Overall, 40.0% of significant risk factors across trajectory classes were common to between two and four classes, whereas 60.0% of the significant risk factors were specific to one class or another. However, risk factors common among classes accounted for the greater part (63.2%) of the associations, especially in co-occurrent DBs trajectory classes. These risk factors included male sex, a higher number of siblings, maternal symptoms of depression and conduct problems, young motherhood, lack of positive parenting, family dysfunction, and lower socioeconomic status. Children thus develop early distinct patterns of DBs associated with both common and specific prenatal and early postnatal risk factors. Longitudinal assessments of early manifestations of DB, including a range of behaviors and a variety of potential risk factors to reflect the distinctiveness of children and their families, could help guide etiological research, tailor early interventions, and prevent a cascade of deleterious influences and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present study was to replicate Burt et al. (2009) and Hou et al. (2013) findings by determining the contribution of peers' deviance to changes in participants' (monozygotic [MZ] twins') self-reported delinquency from mid- to late adolescence while controlling for possible gene-environment correlations (rGE) through the use of the cotwin method in the context of a cross-lagged design. Two separate samples were used to this purpose. The first sample included 289 MZ-twin pairs (48.42% female, 65.5% of European descent, 2 1,7% of African descent, 12.8% other; average age at first assess- ment = 16.20 years) and relied on perceived measures of peer deviance, as in the two original studies. The second sample comprised 181 MZ-twin pairs (50.67% female; 84% of European descent, 3% of African descent. 2% of Asian descent, 2% Native North Americans, and 9% unspecified: average age at first assessment = 13.05 years) and used direct measures to assess peers' deviance. Participants in the first sample were part of a large representative sample of American adolescents. whereas the second sample included families with twins born in a large Canadian city. Results showed that within-pair differences in self-reported delinquency were stable from midadolescence to late adolescence in both samples. As in Burt et al. (2009) and Hou et al. (2013) within-pair differences in peer deviance did not predict changes in within-pair differences in self-reported delinquency in both samples (i.e., no socialization effect). In contrast to Burt et al. (2009) and Hou et al. (2013), however. we found no predictive link from twins' self-reported delinquency to peers' deviance (i.e., no selection effect). Finally, as in Burt et al. (2009) we found that peers' deviance was stable from middle to late adolescence and that peers' deviance and participants' delinquency were cross-sectionally correlated in the first sample, but not in the second sample. These results are interpreted in the context of the ongoing debate in regard to peers' socialization vs selection effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used a longitudinal design from age six through age 19 (N = 1206 (603 girls)) to examine the associations between anxious-withdrawal and reactive aggression during childhood, distinct profiles of peer victimization from kindergarten to grade 11 and victimization in college or at work in emerging adulthood. In particular, it was tested whether the predictive effect of personal characteristics on victimization in emerging adulthood would be mediated via chronic peer victimization experiences during the school years. Teachers evaluated children's personal characteristics, whereas peer nominations and self-reports were used to assess victimization. Control variables included sex, parent-reported harsh parenting and SES. Longitudinal latent profile analysis revealed four distinct profiles of peer victimization during the school years: Consistently-Low (39.7%), Low-Moderate (42.8%), High-Decreasing (8.8%) and High-Increasing–Decreasing (8.7%). A subsequent 3-step regression-based path analysis supported the mediation hypothesis – albeit differently for different profiles of peer victimization. Specifically, compared to a Consistently-Low profile of peer victimization in school, a High-Decreasing profile was predicted by reactive aggression, but not anxious-withdrawal. In contrast, a High-Increasing–Decreasing profile was predicted by reactive aggression and anxious-withdrawal. In turn, elevated peer victimization profiles were associated with higher levels of later victimization in college or at work. The indirect effects linking the childhood behaviors to later victimization in college or at work – via elevated peer victimization profiles during childhood and adolescence – were significant. These results highlight the need for tailored interventions to optimize reactively aggressive or anxious-withdrawn children's response strategies to challenging and potentially threatening peer interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study used a genetically informed design of twins raised in the same family (375 monozygotic and 290 dizygotic twins; 50.2% girls) to examine the association between adolescents' genetic risk for depressive symptoms and the course of the parent-child relationship quality throughout adolescence. Depressive symptoms and the quality of the parent-adolescent relationships were measured through adolescents' self-reports from ages 13 to 17. Group-based trajectory modeling revealed that most adolescents experienced high-quality relationships with both of their parents, characterized by high levels of warmth and low levels of conflict, and marked by gradual changes over adolescence. However, 3% of adolescents showed a trajectory of high and increasing conflict with their mothers and 16% of adolescents showed a trajectory of low warmth with their fathers, which decreased until mid-adolescence before increasing thereafter. Moreover, in line with an evocative gene- environment correlation process, a higher genetic vulnerability to depressive symptoms increased the likelihood of following a more problematic relationship trajectory with parents. This rGE was mediated by adolescents' actual depressive behavior symptoms. Results also suggest that adolescents' depression symptoms may affect girls' and boys' relationship with their parents in a similar way, with specific sex-patterns revolving more around the sex of the parent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Using a longitudinal twin design and a latent growth curve/autoregressive approach, this study examined the genetic–environmental architecture of substance use across adolescence. Methods: Self-reports of substance use (i.e. alcohol, marijuana) were collected at ages 13, 14, 15, and 17 years from 476 twin pairs (475 boys, 477 girls) living in the Province of Quebec, Canada. Substance use increased linearly across the adolescent years. Results: ACE modeling revealed that genetic, as well as shared and non-shared environmental factors explained the overall level of substance use and that these same factors also partly accounted for growth in substance use from age 13 to 17. Additional genetic factors predicted the growth in substance use. Finally, autoregressive effects revealed age-specific non-shared environmental influences and, to a lesser degree, age-specific genetic influences, which together accounted for the stability of substance use across adolescence. Conclusions: The results support and expand the notion that genetic and environmental influences on substance use during adolescence are both developmentally stable and developmentally dynamic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gambling participation and low academic performance are related during adolescence, but the causal mechanisms underlying this link are unclear. It is possible that gambling participation impairs academic performance. Alternatively, the link between gambling participation and low academic performance could be explained by common underlying risk factors such as impulsivity and socio-family adversity. It could also be explained by other current correlated problem behaviors such as substance use. The goal of the present study was to examine whether concurrent and longitudinal links between gambling participation and low academic performance exist from age 14 to age 17 years, net of common antecedent factors and current substance use. A convenience sample of 766 adolescents (50.6% males) from a longitudinal twin sample participated in the study. Analyses revealed significant, albeit modest, concurrent links at both ages between gambling participation and academic performance. There was also a longitudinal link between gambling participation at age 14 and academic performance at age 17, which persisted after controlling for age 12 impulsivity and socio-family adversity as well as current substance use. Gambling participation predicts a decrease in academic performance during adolescence, net of concurrent and antecedent personal and familial risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the association of paternal alcoholism with early adolescent boys’ school adjustment and substance use, and its moderation by paternal absence, controlling for parents’ socioeconomic resources. A community sample of 653 urban, low socioeconomic status (SES) families from Montreal, Canada, was assessed and information collected from parents, teachers, and adolescents’ self-reports, and school records. Paternal alcoholism was significantly associated with boys’ lower academic performance, lower grades, higher frequency of tobacco, marijuana and hard drugs use, of getting drunk, and using a variety of hard drugs. However, the separation from the alcoholic father represented a significant factor of moderation in regard to boys’ substance use: Sons of alcoholic fathers living with their dad in intact families were more likely to use tobacco and marijuana, to get drunk, and to use a variety of hard drugs than their peers not living with their alcoholic father, whether in single-mother or stepfamilies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the well-established association between problem gambling and ADHD core categories of impulsivity-hyperactivity and inattention, the link between parents' problem gambling and impulsivity-hyperactivity/inattention (IH/I) behaviors in children has not been investigated. This study investigated the association between parents' problem gambling and children's IH/I behaviors while controlling for potential confounding variables. A population-based prospective cohort followed-up from kindergarten to age 30, the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children (QLSKC), provided data over three generations. Among 1358 participants at age 30, parents with a child aged 1 year or older (N = 468; Mean age = 4.65 years; SD = 2.70) were selected. Generalized Linear Models included measures of grandparents' and parents' problem gambling, parents' IH/I behaviors in childhood, and a host of risk factors and comorbidities to predict IH/I in children. Intergenerational bivariate associations were observed between grandparents' problem gambling, parents' IH/I in childhood and problem gambling at age 30, and between parents' IH/I, problem gambling, and children's IH/I behaviors. Parents' problem gambling predicted children's IH/I behaviors above and beyond the effects of covariates such as family and socioeconomic characteristics, alcohol and drug use, depression symptoms and parents' gambling involvement. Parents' IH/I behaviors in childhood also predicted children's IH/I and had a moderating, enhancing effect on parents' problem gambling association with their offspring's IH/I behaviors. Problem gambling is a characteristic of parents' mental health that is distinctively associated with children's IH/I behaviors, above and beyond parents' own history of IH/I and of typically related addictive, psychopathological or socioeconomic risk factors and comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the failure model (Patterson & Capaldi, 1990), peer rejection is the intermediary link between problem behaviors and internalizing symptoms. The present study tested the model with 464 monozygotic and same‐sex dizygotic twin pairs (234 female, 230 male dyads). Teacher‐reported reactive aggression and internalizing symptoms, and peer‐reported peer rejection were collected at ages 6, 7, and 10 (from 2001 to 2008). Support for the failure model emerged in conventional non‐genetically controlled analyses, but not twin‐difference score analyses (which remove shared environmental and genetic contributions). Univariate biometric models attributed minimal variance in failure model variables to shared environmental factors, suggesting that genetic factors play an important unacknowledged role in developmental pathways historically ascribed to nonshared experiences in the failure model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review describes a bio-psycho-social approach to understanding and preventing the development of chronic physical aggression. The debate on the developmental origins of aggression has historically opposed genetic and environmental mechanisms. Recent studies have shown that the frequency of physical aggression peaks in early childhood and then decreases until old age. Molecular genetic studies and twin studies have confirmed important genetic influences. However, recent epigenetic studies have highlighted the important role of environments in gene expression and brain development. These studies suggest that interrelated bio-psycho-social channels involved in the development of chronic physical aggression are generally the product of an intergenerational transmission process occurring through assortative mating, genetic inheritance, and the inheritance of physical and social environmental conditions that handicap brain functioning and support the use of physical aggression to solve problems. Given these intergenerational mechanisms and physical aggression onset in infancy, it appears clear that preventive interventions should start early in pregnancy, at the latest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathways model of problem gambling suggests the existence of three developmental pathways to problem gambling, each differentiated by a set of predisposing biopsychosocial characteristics: behaviorally conditioned (BC), emotionally vulnerable (EV), and biologically vulnerable (BV) gamblers. This study examined the empirical validity of the Pathways Model among adolescents followed up to early adulthood. A prospective-longitudinal design was used, thus overcoming limitations of past studies that used concurrent or retrospective designs. Two samples were used: (1) a population sample of French-speaking adolescents (N = 1033) living in low socio-economic status (SES) neighborhoods from the Greater Region of Montreal (Quebec, Canada), and (2) a population sample of adolescents (N = 3017), representative of French-speaking students in Quebec. Only participants with at-risk or problem gambling by mid-adolescence or early adulthood were included in the main analysis (n = 180). Latent Profile Analyses were conducted to identify the optimal number of profiles, in accordance with participants' scores on a set of variables prescribed by the Pathways Model and measured during early adolescence: depression, anxiety, impulsivity, hyperactivity, antisocial/aggressive behavior, and drug problems. A four-profile model fit the data best. Three profiles differed from each other in ways consistent with the Pathways Model (i.e., BC, EV, and BV gamblers). A fourth profile emerged, resembling a combination of EV and BV gamblers. Four profiles of at-risk and problem gamblers were identified. Three of these profiles closely resemble those suggested by the Pathways Model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identified mental health outcomes associated with specific developmental trajectories of psychopathic traits across childhood and tested whether positive relationships with parents and teachers have compensatory or protective effects. Participants were 1401 children (52.82% girls) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development with available data on teacher-reported psychopathic traits (ages 6–12 years) and self-reported mental health outcomes (ages 15–17 years). Parents and teachers reported their levels of positive relationship with the child (ages 6–8 and 10–12 years). Trajectories of psychopathic traits (High-stable, Increasing, Decreasing, and Low-stable) were included as predictors of mental health outcomes (e.g., conduct disorder, anxiety) in structural equation models controlling for child sex, family SES, and earlier psychopathology. Compensatory effects were tested via main effects of positive relationships and protective effects were tested via their interactive effects with trajectories memberships. When compared to the Low-stable trajectory of psychopathic traits, the High-stable, Increasing, and Decreasing trajectories were associated with distinct sets of mental health outcomes, with children from the Increasing trajectory being at higher risk for both externalizing and internalizing psychopathology. Positive relationships with parents and teachers only partially compensated for these effects. Findings suggest that clinicians cannot expect the detrimental effects associated with psychopathic traits to be entirely prevented by children's positive relationships with parents and/or teachers. This study reinforces the importance of providing intensive preventive interventions to elementary school children with high levels of psychopathic traits to prevent the long-term negative consequences associated with these traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive friendships have been related to decreasing levels of children's physical aggression over time. While this evidence calls for interventions aimed at helping children build good-quality friendships, tests of causality through experimental manipulations are still needed. The goal of this study was to examine whether an intervention aimed to increase dyadic friendship quality could decrease children's physical aggression at the peer-group level over a school year. A total of 34 aggressive children and each child's best friend were randomly assigned to two groups: an experimental condition where the members in each dyad participated together in 12 weekly intervention sessions and a no-intervention control condition. Multiple sources were used to evaluate changes in friendship quality and children's physical aggression. Results showed an indirect effect of the intervention on decreasing levels of physical aggression through the improvement of one specific feature of friendship quality: conflict resolution. These results point to the usefulness of including this relational aspect in intervention programs targeting aggressive children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of 767 children (403 girls, 364 boys), this study aimed to (a) identify groups with distinct trajectories of peer victimization over a 6-year period from primary school through the transition to secondary school, and (b) examine the associated personal (i.e., aggression or internalizing problems) and familial (family status, socioeconomic status, the parent-child relationship) predictors. Peer victimization was assessed via self-reports from Grades 4 through 9 (ages 10 through 15 years), aggression and internalizing problems were assessed in Grade 4 via peer nominations, and the parent-child relationship was assessed in Grade 7 (i.e., right after the transition to secondary school) via parent-reports. Growth Mixture modeling revealed 1 group (62%) who experienced little victimization in primary school and even less in secondary school, another group (31%) who was victimized in primary but not or much less in secondary school, and a third group (7%) who was chronically victimized in both school contexts. Boys were more likely than girls to follow any elevated victimization trajectory. Chronic victimization across primary and secondary school was predicted by nonintact family status and a combination of both internalizing problems and aggression compared with nonvictimized youth. In contrast, transitory victimization during primary but not in secondary school was predicted by aggression, but not internalizing problems. Support as well as conflict in the parent-child relationship also showed significant, albeit distinct associations with the different peer victimization trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to deviant friends has been found to be a powerful source of influence on children’s and adolescents’ aggressive behavior. However, the contribution of deviant friends may have been overestimated because of a possible non-accounted gene-environment correlation (rGE). In this study, we used a cross-lagged design to test whether friends’ physical aggression at age 10 predicts an increase in participants’ physical aggression from age 10 to age 13 years. Participants were 201 pairs of monozygotic twins who are part of the Quebec Longitudinal Twin Study. We performed two sets of analyses. In the first set of analyses, using twins as singletons, we found that teacher-rated friends’ physical aggression predicted an increase in each twin’s self-reported physical aggression from age 10 to age 13, above and beyond auto-regressive and concurrent links. Second, we used within-pair differences in regard to friends’ physical aggression to predict an increase in within-pair differences in physical aggression, thus accounting for family-wide influences, including a likely rGE at age 10. No significant association was found, however. These results suggest that part of the influence attributed to friends in past studies may have been due to common underlying genetic effects on both physical aggression and association with physically aggressive friends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To estimate trajectories of gambling variety from mid-adolescence to age 30 years, and compare the different trajectory groups with regard to the type and the frequency of gambling activities practiced and gambling-related problems. Design Prospective longitudinal cohort study. Setting Province of Quebec, Canada. Participants A mixed-gender general population cohort assessed at ages 15 ( n = 1882), 22 ( n = 1785) and 30 ( n = 1358). Measurements Adolescent and adult versions of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). Findings Group-based trajectory analysis identified three distinct trajectories: a late-onset low trajectory (26.7% of sample) initiating gambling at age 22, an early-onset low trajectory (64.8% of sample), characterized by one to two different activities from age 15 onwards and a high trajectory (8.4% of sample), with an average of four to five different activities from age 15 to 30. Males (14.2%) were four times more likely to be on a high trajectory than females (3.5%) ( P < 0.001). Preferred types of gambling activities were similar across the three trajectories. Participants on a high trajectory reported higher gambling frequency at ages 15 and 30, and were more likely to experience problem gambling at age 30: 3.09 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.66, 5.75] and 2.26 (95% CI = 1.27, 4.04) times more, respectively, than late-onset low and early-onset low participants, even when socio-economic status (SES), frequency of gambling and problem gambling in adolescence, gender, age 30 education, SES and frequency of gambling were controlled. Conclusions Engaging in several different types of gambling in early adulthood appears to be a risk factor for emergence of problem gambling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined sibling influence over gambling involvement and delinquency in a sample of 628 twins (151 male dyads, 163 female dyads). Self-reports of gambling involvement and delinquency were collected for each twin at ages 13, 14 and 15 years. Results revealed evidence of between-twin influence. Higher levels of an adolescent's delinquency predicted an increase in his or her co-twin's delinquency from age 13 to age 14 and from age 14 to age 15. In contrast, gambling behavior was unaffected by the co-twin's gambling involvement. Within-twins, higher initial levels of delinquency predicted a subsequent increase in gambling behavior from age 13 to age 14 and again from age 14 to age 15, and higher initial levels of gambling involvement predicted an increase in delinquency from age 14 to age 15. Between and within siblings effects are discussed in light of the scant literature on (a) sibling influence on gambling, and (b) the links between gambling and delinquency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have shown that aggressive and non-aggressive antisocial behaviors are important precursors of later adjustment problems. There is also strong empirical evidence that both types of antisocial behavior are partially influenced by genetic factors. However, despite its important theoretical and practical implications, no study has examined the question whether environmental factors differentially moderate the expression of genetic influences on the two types of antisocial behavior. Using a genetically informed design based on 266 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs, this study examined whether the expression of genetic risk for aggressive and non-aggressive antisocial behavior varies depending on the peer group's injunctive norms (i.e., the degree of acceptability) of each type of antisocial behavior. Self-reported aggressive and non-aggressive antisocial behavior and classroom-based sociometric nominations were collected when participants were 10 years old. Multivariate genetic analyses revealed some common genetic factors influencing both types of antisocial behavior (i.e., general antisocial behavior) as well as genetic influences specific to non-aggressive antisocial behavior. However, genetic influences on general antisocial behavior, as well as specific genetic influences on non-aggressive antisocial behavior, vary depending on the injunctive classroom norms regarding these behaviors. These findings speak to the power of peer group norms in shaping aggressive and non-aggressive antisocial behavior. They also contribute further to understanding the distinctive development of both types of antisocial behavior. Finally, they may have important implications for prevention purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children's academic achievement is considerably influenced by genetic factors, which rarely operate independently of environmental influences such as teachers' behaviour. Praise and punitive discipline are commonly used management strategies by teachers. However, their effects on the genetic expression of children's academic achievement are still unclear. Aims: This study examined potential gene–environment interactions in the associations between children's estimated genetic disposition for academic achievement and teachers' use of praise and punitive discipline in predicting academic achievement. Sample: The participants were 165 twin pairs in sixth grade (M = 12.1 years). Methods: Teachers reported on children's academic achievement, as well as on their own behaviour. Results: Multilevel regression analyses showed significant interactions between children's estimated genetic disposition for academic achievement and teachers' use of praise and punitive discipline, respectively, in predicting academic achievement. These interactions indicated an enhancement process, suggesting that genetically advantaged children are those most likely to benefit from regular praise and infrequent punishments from their teacher. Moreover, genetically advantaged children were not more (nor less) likely to receive praise or punishments than other students. However, students from underprivileged backgrounds were less likely to receive praise from their teachers. Conclusions: The results emphasize the importance of teachers' regular use of praise and infrequent punitive discipline to help genetically advantaged children reach their full potential. Future studies should investigate other protective factors of the school environment that might reduce the role of genetic influences that undermine disadvantaged youth's academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the link between behavior in kindergarten and adult-life welfare receipt. Teacher-rated behavioral assessments were obtained for inattention, hyperactivity, aggression–opposition, anxiety, and prosociality when children (n =2960) were aged 5–6 years and linked to their tax return records from age 18–35 years. We used group-based based trajectory modeling to identify distinct trajectories of welfare receipt and multinomial logistic regression models to examine the association between behaviors and trajectory group membership. The child's sex, IQ, and family background were adjusted for. Four trajectories of welfare receipt were identified: low (n = 2,390, 80.7%), declining (n = 260, 8.8%), rising (n = 150, 5.2%), and chronic (n = 160, 5.4%). Relative to the low trajectory, inattention and aggression–opposition at age 6 years were associated with increased risk of following a declining, rising, and chronic trajectory of welfare receipt, independent of hyperactivity and anxiety. Prosocial behaviors were independently associated with a lower risk of following a chronic trajectory. This study shows that kindergarten children exhibiting high inattention and aggression–opposition and low prosocial behaviors may be at increased risk of long-term welfare receipt in adulthood. The implications for early screening, monitoring, and prevention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined to what extent genetic and environmental factors explain—either additively or interactively with peer victimization—different trajectories of adolescents' depressive symptoms and whether genetic factors related to distinct trajectories are correlated with peer victimization. Participants included 902 twins (52% girls) who self-reported peer victimization and depressive symptoms in grades 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11. Growth mixture modeling revealed 3 trajectories of depressive symptoms: low (69.2% of participants), increasing (19.5%), and high-decreasing-increasing (11.3%). Biometric modeling showed that, for both sexes, genetic factors explained roughly half (52.6%, 47.5%) of the probability of following either a low or an increasing trajectory. Genetic influences (41%) were also observed for the high-decreasing-increasing trajectory, albeit only for girls. Nonshared environmental influences explained the remaining variances, along with shared environmental influences (27%) on the high-decreasing-increasing trajectory. Only for the low and the increasing trajectories, nonshared environmental influences increased with more frequent peer victimization (b low = 0.206, 95% CI [0.094, 0.325]; b increasing = 0.246, 95% CI [0.143, 0.356]). Moreover, peer victimization was associated with a lower probability of a low trajectory and a higher probability of an increasing or high-decreasing-increasing trajectory, and these associations were mostly explained by common underlying genetic factors. Youth expressing (partly inherited) depressive symptoms may be at risk of peer victimization. However, increasing depressive symptoms in victims may be mitigated by other environmental factors except for those who enter adolescence with already high levels of depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the genetic and environmental architecture of early gambling involvement and substance use to determine whether genetic or environmental factors that contribute to substance use also put young adolescents at risk for early involvement in gambling. Self-reports of substance use and gambling involvement were collected at age 13 years from 279 Monozygotic and Dizygotic twin pairs. Univariate ACE modeling revealed that genetic and nonshared environmental factors almost equally accounted for gambling involvement, with no contribution from shared environmental factors. In contrast, both shared and nonshared environmental factors played important roles in substance use; the contribution of genetic factors was also substantial. Bivariate analyses identified a significant, albeit modest, overlap between the genetic influence on gambling involvement and the genetic influence on substance use. The results shed light on the etiology of early gambling involvement and substance use, suggesting that preventive interventions targeting common risk factors may also need to be complemented by modules that are specific to each behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation used two-part growth modeling and cross-lagged panel analysis to examine the predictive function of parenting and teacher--child relationship on the likelihood of children showing problems with parent-rated physical aggression, and on the severity of problems, for 374 children followed from prekindergarten and first grade. Two-part modeling found that teacher--child relationship did not differentiate children who did or did not show aggression problems; parental warmth did, but only in prekindergarten. For children who showed problems with aggression, parental warmth predicted the severity of those problems in prekindergarten, and teacher--child conflict predicted severity of aggression problems in first grade. Cross-lagged panel analyses similarly indicated that parental warmth in prekindergarten predicted aggression in kindergarten, but that kindergarten teacher--child conflict predicted subsequent higher aggression in first grade. Shifts in the importance of specific microsystems over time on children's social development (chronosystem) are discussed, as are the implications for teachers and preservice teacher training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wilderness therapy is an alternative to more traditional interventions for antisocial youth. It has the potential to broaden their existing, and often poor, repertoire of personal and social skills, heightening the possibilities of desistence from an antisocial path. In this study, the impact of participation in a wilderness therapy program for adjudicated youth was observed. An experimental and prospective design, with pre-test and post-tests at three and six months, was used to evaluate the influence of the length of the program on the antisocial behavior and socio-professional status of young offenders. The potential impact of interpersonal skills and accomplishment motivation as mediators was also observed. A sample of 220 young offenders was used, which was divided at random into two conditions; a program lasting between 8 to 10 days or one lasting between 17 and 20 days. Length of program had no direct and significant influence on participants’ antisocial behavior or socio-professional status. However, length had a positive indirect effect on lowering the level of participants’ antisociality, through the development of some interpersonal skills and accomplishment motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Several authors consider high and frequent conflicts between friends during childhood as a serious risk for subsequent conduct problems such as generalized physical aggression toward others (e.g., Kupersmidt, Burchinal, & Patterson, 1995; Sebanc, 2003). Although it seems logical to assume that friendship conflict could have some negative consequences on children's behaviors, some scholars have suggested that a certain amount of conflict between friends may actually promote social adjustment (e.g., Laursen & Pursell, 2009). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of friendship conflict in regard to the development of generalized physical aggression toward others in the early school years (i.e., from kindergarten to Grade 1), as well as the moderating role of relational (i.e., shared positive affect and dyadic conflict resolution skills) and personal (i.e., children's sex and genetic liability for aggression) characteristics in this context. The sample included 745 twins assessed through teacher, peer, child, and friend ratings in kindergarten and Grade 1. Friendship conflict in kindergarten was linearly related to an increase in boys' but not girls' generalized physical aggression. However, shared positive affect and conflict resolution skills mitigated the prospective associations between friendship conflict and generalized physical aggression. These results were independent of children's sex, genetic risk for physical aggression, and initial levels of generalized physical aggression in kindergarten. Fostering a positive relationship between friends at school entry may buffer against the risk associated with experiencing friendship conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer antisocial behavior robustly predicts adolescents' own behavior, but not all adolescents are equally vulnerable to their peers' influence and genetic factors may confer vulnerability. This study used data of n = 3,081 adolescents from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to examine whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF), a polymorphism that affects psychological functioning, moderates the association between affiliation with aggressive peers at age 10 and own aggression at age 15. A significant gene-environment interaction was found, where those who affiliated with aggressive peers in childhood showed increased risk of being aggressive in adolescence if they carried the BDNF met-met variant compared with val-val carriers. Our findings underline the importance of both biological and social factors for adolescent development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research linking early pubertal development to substance use has focused on the effects of pubertal timing (age at which a certain stage of pubertal development is reached or pubertal status at a particular age--related to the maturation disparity hypothesis), but little research has focused on pubertal tempo (rate of growth through pubertal stages--related to the maturation compression hypothesis). However, both timing and tempo have not only been identified as important components of pubertal development, with different predictors, but have also been shown to be independently associated with other adolescent psychopathologies. Using latent growth-curve modeling, this study examined how pubertal status at age 12 and pubertal tempo (between 11 and 13 years) related to substance use from 15 to 16 years in boys from low socioeconomic backgrounds (N = 871). Results showed that both pubertal status at age 12 and tempo were significant predictors of increased levels of substance use and problems in mid to late adolescence. In an attempt to identify mechanisms that may explain the association between pubertal development and substance use it was found that sensation seeking partially mediated the association between pubertal status at age 12 and substance use behaviors. Impulse control was found to moderate the association sensation seeking had with marijuana use frequency, with high sensation-seeking scores predicting higher marijuana use frequency only at low levels of impulse control. These findings highlight the importance of considering multiple sources of individual variability in the pubertal development of boys and provide support for both the maturational disparity and compression hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined whether reciprocal friendship quantity or quality can mitigate genetic vulnerability for depression symptoms in children. The sample comprised 168 monozygotic twin pairs and 126 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs assessed in Grade 4 (mean age = 10.04 years). Friendship participation was measured via reciprocal nominations of close friendships within the classroom. Friendship quality was measured through self-reports. Depression symptoms were measured through teacher and peer reports. Genetic vulnerability for depression symptoms was unrelated to friendship participation or the number of reciprocal friends, but it was negatively related to positive friendship quality. In line with gene–environment interaction, genetic risk effects on depression symptoms were mitigated in girls who had at least one close reciprocal friend. In boys, only moderate main effects of genetic vulnerability and friendship participation were found but no interaction between them. However, among boys with at least one reciprocal friend, a greater number of friends was related to fewer depression symptoms whereas no cumulative effect of friendship was found for girls. Finally, positive friendship quality was related to fewer depression symptoms in girls and boys even when controlling for genetic risk. The findings emphasize the importance of teaching social interactional skills that promote high-quality friendship relations to help prevent the development of depression symptoms in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a genetically informed design, this study examined the additive and interactive effects of genetic risk, personal peer victimization experiences, and peer victimization experienced by others on children's aggression and depression symptoms. Of major interest was whether these effects varied depending on whether or not the victimized others were children's close friends. The sample comprised 197 monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twin pairs reared together (95 female pairs) assessed in Grade 4. Each twin's victimization experiences and victimization experienced by his or her friends and other classmates were measured using individuals' reports about their own levels of peer victimization. Aggression was assessed using peer nominations, and depression was measured using self-reports. Indicative of a possible social-learning mechanism or the emotional contagion of anger, multilevel regressions showed that personal victimization experiences were related to especially high levels of aggression when close friends where also highly victimized, albeit only in boys. Moreover, in line with social comparison theory, the effect of frequent personal victimization experiences on depressive feelings was much weaker when close friends were also highly victimized than when close friends were not or were only rarely victimized. Finally, a high level of peer victimization experienced by other classmates was related to a lower level of aggression in girls and boys, possibly because of a heightened sense of threat in classrooms where many suffer attacks from bullies. All of these results were independent of children's genetic risk for aggression or depression. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored whether early elementary school aged children's externalizing problems impede academic functioning and foster negative social experiences such as peer victimization, thereby making these children vulnerable for developing internalizing problems and possibly increasing their externalizing problems. It also explored whether early internalizing problems contributed to an increase in externalizing problems. The study examined 1,558 Canadian children from ages 6 to 8 years. Externalizing and internalizing problems, peer victimization, and school achievement were assessed annually. Externalizing problems lead to academic underachievement and experiences of peer victimization. Academic underachievement and peer victimization, in turn, predicted increases in internalizing problems and in externalizing problems. These pathways applied equally to boys and girls. No links from internalizing to externalizing problems were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to identify perinatal and early-life factors associated with trajectories of psychopathic traits across childhood. Methods: Participants were 1631 children (51.5% girls) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. A wide range of perinatal and early - life factors were assessed from pregnancy to age 2.5 years using medical files and mothers' reports. Psychopathic traits were assessed via teachers' reports at ages 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12 years. Latent class growth analyses and multinomial logistic regressions controlling for child sex were conducted. Two-way interaction effects between perinatal/early-life factors and child sex were explored. Results: Four trajectories of psychopathic traits were identified: High-stable (4.48%), Increasing (8.77%), Decreasing (11.46%), and Low-stable (75.29%). A few perinatal factors and most child-level and family-level early-life factors significantly increased the odds of following the High-stable v. the Low-stable trajectory. Higher levels of psychotropic exposures during pregnancy, socioeconomic adversity, child's physical aggression, child's opposition, mother's depressive symptoms, and hostile parenting increased the likelihood of following the Increasing instead of the Low-stable trajectory. Higher socioeconomic adversity, mother's depressive symptoms, and inconsistent parenting were associated with membership to the High-stable instead of the Decreasing trajectory. Most associations were not moderated by child sex. Conclusions: These results shed light on the perinatal and early-life factors that are associated with specific pathways of psychopathic traits during childhood and suggest that different factors could be targeted to prevent the exacerbation (v. low and stable levels) or the stability at high levels (v. attenuation) of these traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Performance at school entry is a robust indicator of a child's later academic achievement • Relative academic achievement in elementary school is associated with pre- to early post-natal risk factors • Patterns of relative academic achievement reflect a gradation in their association with early risk factors • Intensive intervention should be provided to low performing children identified in first grade • Prevention aimed at reducing school difficulties should start in early pregnancy This exploratory study investigated patterns of children's relative ranking of academic achievement in the classroom from grade 1 to grade 6 and their association with child, parental and socio-familial characteristics assessed 5 months after birth in a population birth-cohort (92% White of European ancestry, N = 1538, 48.1% boys). Using teacher ratings, latent growth modeling revealed four distinct patterns reflecting different levels and developmental courses of relative academic achievement, with each pattern representing between 17.3% and 38.2% of the sample. Twenty-two risk factors from the prenatal period to age 5 months differentiated these longitudinal patterns. In particular, low parental education and family income, male sex, and poor parental behaviors and attitudes towards the child (OR = 1.19–2.53) were associated with a lower trajectory of relative academic achievement. Furthermore, children's patterns of relative academic achievement reflected a gradation in their association with many early risk factors, where children in the lower class differed from their peers in the Moderate-Low class, and the latter from children in the higher classes. Results of the present study show that performance at school entry is a robust indicator of a child's relative academic achievement throughout elementary school. Findings show that many at-risk children can be identified prior to or shortly after birth based on child, parental, and socio-familial characteristics. Preventive interventions aimed at reducing school difficulties should start in early pregnancy, before they lead to negative outcomes culminating in academic failure and potentially to social integration difficulties, as well as health and mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to identify the pathways through which a preventive intervention targeting young low-SES disruptive boys could result in lower crime involvement during adulthood. Method: The preventive intervention was implemented when the children were between 7 and 9 years and included three components (i.e. social skills, parental practices, teacher support). Participants ( N = 250) were randomly allocated to the intervention or to a control group. The tested pathways included antisocial behaviour, school engagement, parental supervision and friends' deviancy, both during early and middle adolescence. Crime involvement was assessed in early adulthood. Results: The intervention reduced adult criminal involvement via reduced early and middle adolescent antisocial behaviours. Conclusion: This study adds to the small group of studies that have examined the mechanisms through which early preventive interventions might impact distal outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study was to examine how different types of social experiences in kindergarten relate to Grade 1 academic achievement, while controlling for possible genetic and shared environmental influences through the use of the monozygotic (MZ) twin difference method. Social experiences in kindergarten included relationship quality with the larger peer group (i.e., rejection and victimization), relationship quality with one's best friend, and relationship quality with the teacher. Control variables included parental hostility-coercion, child cognitive skills and externalizing problems, and equivalent social experiences in Grade 1. Participants consisted of 223 MZ twin pairs ages 6 years at Time 1 (T1) and 7 years at Time 2 (T2). Results showed that within-pair differences in peer rejection and in poor teacher-child relationship quality at T1 uniquely predicted differences in MZ twins' academic achievement at T2. Mechanisms that could account for the possible causal role of these social experiences in regard to children's school achievement are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the unique and combined role of friendship quality and friends' aggression in regard to the persistence of young children's physical aggression from kindergarten to grade 2. The sample included 1555 children (808 girls) assessed annually using teacher ratings. Two theoretical perspectives (i.e., the social learning and the social bonding perspectives) served as frameworks to guide the analyses and interpret the results. In line with the social learning perspective, friends' aggression was related to a significant increase in children's physical aggression. However, in line with the social bonding perspective, good friendship quality played both a compensatory and a protective role, by, respectively, reducing children's initial level of physical aggression and by mitigating, albeit marginally, the associations between friends' and children's physical aggression. These results suggest that fostering a positive relationship between friends in the early school years may decrease physical aggression even if the friends are aggressive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used the monozygotic (MZ) twin difference method to examine whether differences in friends' aggression increased the differences in MZ twins' aggression and depressive symptoms from kindergarten to Grade 1 and whether perceived victimization by the friend played a mediating role in this context. Participants were 223 MZ twin pairs. Results showed that differences in kindergarten friends' aggression significantly predicted an increased difference in MZ twins' aggression from kindergarten (mean age = 6.7 years) to Grade 1 (mean age = 7.5 years) for both boys and girls. Differences in perceived victimization by the friend mediated this association, albeit only in boys. Differences in perceived victimization by the friend also predicted an increase in MZ twins' differences in depressive symptoms. These results support the importance of friendship experiences during early childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tested a transactional model of reciprocal influences regarding students' peer experiences (peer acceptance, peer rejection, and friends' academic achievement) and students' academic achieve- ment from middle childhood to early adolescence. This longitudinal model was tested on 452 students (198 girls), mostly Caucasian and French speaking, who were assessed yearly from Grades 2 through 7. Structural equation models revealed that, for boys and for girls, higher academic achievement predicted (a) increases in peer acceptance from Grades 2 through 6, (b) decreases in peer rejection from Grades 2 through 4 (through Grade 5 for girls), and (c) increases in friends' achievement from Grades 4 through 7. Also, rejection predicted decreases in academic achievement from Grades 3 through 5. These results suggest that academic achievement is a good predictor of peer group status in middle childhood and that high-achieving students start selecting each other as friends as they enter early adolescence. These data also suggest that peer rejection in childhood may disrupt future academic achievement. Possible mediating mechanisms, as well as peer selection and influences in the context of social development, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental preventive intervention nested into a longitudinal study was used to test the developmental distinctiveness of proactive and reactive aggression. The randomized multimodal preventive intervention targeted a subsample of boys rated disruptive by their teachers. These boys were initially part of a sample of 895 boys, followed from kindergarten to 17 years of age. Semiparametric analyses of developmental trajectories for self-reported proactive and reactive aggression (between 13 and 17 years of age) indicated three trajectories for each type of aggression that varied in size and shape (Low, Moderate, and High Peaking). Intent-to-treat comparisons between the boys in the prevention group and the control group confirmed that the preventive intervention between 7 and 9 years of age, which included parenting skills and social skills training, could impact the development of reactive more than proactive aggression. The intervention effect identified in reactive aggression was related to a reduction in self-reported coercive parenting. The importance of these results for the distinction between subtypes of aggressive behaviors and the value of longitudinal-experimental studies from early childhood onward is discussed. Aggr. Behav. 36:127–140, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction to the Special Section entitled “Environmental effects on development: Concordance and discrepancies between genetically-controlled and non genetically-controlled studies.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Genetic risk for depressive behavior may increase the likelihood of exposure to environmental stressors (gene–environment correlation, rGE). By the same token, exposure to environmental stressors may moderate the effect of genes on depressive behavior (gene–environment interaction, G×E). Relating these processes to a peer-related stressor in childhood, the present study examined (1) whether genetic risk for depressive behavior in children is related to higher levels of rejection by the peer group (rGE) and (2) whether peer rejection moderates the effect of genetic factors on children’s depressive behavior (G×E). Methods: The sample comprised 336 twin pairs (MZ pairs = 196, same-sex DZ pairs = 140) assessed in kindergarten (mean age 72.7 months). Peer acceptance/rejection was measured via peer nominations. Depressive behavior was measured through teacher ratings. Results: Consistent with rGE, a moderate overlap of genetic effects was found between peer acceptance/rejection and depressive behavior. In line with G×E, genetic effects on depressive behavior varied across levels of peer acceptance/rejection. Conclusions: An increased genetic disposition for depressive behavior is related to a higher risk of peer rejection (rGE). However, genes play a lesser role in explaining individual differences in depressive behavior in rejected children than in accepted children (G×E). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twin studies are well known for their value in quantifying the contribution of genes to population variation in behaviors and personality traits. Twin studies also provide a unique opportunity to untangle the contribution of environmental experiences to emotional and behavioral development. This is particularly true when examining monozygotic (MZ) twins since they represent a pair of individuals naturally matched on both their genetic background and their shared environment, thus allowing the identification of environmental experiences unique to each twin which may impact developmental outcome. This article presents two analytical strategies based on the discordant MZ-twin method. It stresses the power of this method to establish plausible causal pathways between environmental factors and developmental outcomes, and provides examples from the socio- developmental literature to illustrate its application. It also describes the limitations of this method and its requirements for optimal utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in developmental trajectories of physical violence, vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use from ages 10 to 15 were studied. For females and for males, three trajectories of theft and of alcohol-drug use increased from 10 years to 15 years, while only the high trajectory of vandalism increased from ten to 14. All trajectories of physical violence decreased. Children who engaged in the high trajectories of vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use had a high probability of also being high in physical violence. Compared to males, females were less likely to be on the high trajectory of physical violence, and their trajectories of other antisocial behaviors were less strongly associated with high levels of physical violence. The results suggest that physical violence during pre-adolescence and adolescence has a different developmental pattern than other forms of antisocial behavior, and that its relation to these other forms of antisocial behavior differs by sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared offspring of problem gamblers ( n = 42) to offspring of parents without gambling problems ( n = 100) to see (1) whether the two groups differed with respect to depressive feelings and conduct/antisociality problems and (2) whether ineffective parenting or the offspring’s own gambling problems played a mediating role in this context. Participants were drawn from a relatively large community-based study ( N = 1,872). Parents rated their own gambling and other mental health problems when their children were in mid-adolescence. The children’s self-reports on depressive feelings and conduct/antisociality problems were assessed at two points in time: by mid-adolescence and again by early adulthood. Results showed that children of parents with gambling problems reported more depressive feelings and more conduct problems by mid-adolescence than children of parents without gambling problems. Children of problem gamblers also experienced an increase in their depressive symptoms from mid-adolescence to early adulthood. Importantly, ineffective parenting, but not children’s gambling problems, mediated almost all the links between parental problem gambling and children’s adjustment problems. These results add to a very small data base showing that children of problem gamblers are at risk for a variety of adjustment problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has provided mixed results regarding the effect of anxiety on academic achievement. Building on this body of research, the present longitudinal study pursued two goals. The first goal was to describe trajectories of anxiety during elementary-school years. The second goal was to determine the predictive value of these trajectories on high school noncompletion after controlling for personal (i.e., gender, classroom behaviors, and academic achievement) and familial (i.e., sociofamilial adversity) characteristics. A community sample of 1,817 children (887 boys, 930 girls) participated in this study. Results showed that anxiety tended to fluctuate from kindergarten to Grade 6 for different groups of children. Furthermore, the result of a logistic regression analysis indicated that group membership for anxiety predicted high school noncompletion by age 20. As a whole, these findings suggest that considering heterogeneous developmental patterns of anxiety during elementary-school years appears quite useful for predicting an important outcome such as high school noncompletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This 17-year longitudinal study tested whether low peer-perceived acceptance and association with aggressive-disruptive friends during preadolescence predicted students' failure to graduate from secondary school. Participants were 997 Caucasian, French-speaking boys from low-socioeconomic status, urban neighborhoods. The boys were recruited in kindergarten (age 6) and followed through early adulthood (age 23). Low levels of prosocial behaviors and high levels of aggressive-disruptive behaviors in childhood were expected to predict negative preadolescent peer experiences. Adolescent academic achievement and school commitment were expected to mediate the link between preadolescent peer experiences and early adulthood graduation status. Results of structural equation modeling analyses tended to support these hypotheses. Greater childhood aggression-disruptiveness positively predicted friends' preadolescent aggression-disruptiveness. Having aggressive-disruptive friends, in turn, was related to a lower likelihood of graduation. Lower academic achievement and school commitment partially mediated the association between friend characteristics and graduation. Peer acceptance did not contribute to graduation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present study was to examine whether controlling parenting contributes to the problem of physical aggression. Developmental trajectories of children’s physical aggression were modeled from yearly teachers’ ratings, from ages 6 to 12. Multinomial logistic regressions ( N = 1,508) served to identify risk factors that distinguish children who display different levels of physical aggression throughout grade school. Results revealed that being a boy and having a reactive temperament were important child predictors. Parental separation and an early onset of motherhood were also significant risk factors. Finally, mothers’ controlling parenting increased the odds of following the highest trajectory of physical aggression, above and beyond the previous risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]